Kitchen Garden Forum

Can anybody suggest how I can stop the loose oxygenating plants in my mini pond sinking to the bottom and getting smothered in the muddy gunge which lurks at the bottom.

Ideally I'd like to rest them on a no-solid layer of something which floats so that they can be kept clean but can't think how this can best be achieved. Or is there any specific reason why they might be more effective at the bottom of the pond than on the surface?

Hi Primrose

I suppose it depends on what plants they are. I had a pond until we moved to Wales and acquired a river, which largely looks after itself, except when in flood or farmers upstream release their excess slurry

My memory is that my oxygenating plants were all rooted in the silt at the bottom.

Dear Primrose, you could always weight the bottom, and cork the top.

Actually I hadn't thought of corks but that might work if I could wire a batch of them together as the plants are nominally floaters and don't have any roots on them. Alas corks seem to be disappearing fast now that most wines come in screw top bottles.

I'm back again, Primrose

You don't say what the plants are. I recall that such plants as Stratiotes Aloides (Water Soldier) sink to the bottom in the winter and then resurface to flower.

I was thinking more along the lines of, Elodea.

just a thought but if you can find an old plastic fruit crate you could bunch the plant together and feed the long stems through the gaps, the crate will then sink to the bottom and roots will grow into the silt. having your plants in crates like this makes it easier to remove and care for them in winter months